2. Reconstruction ( ):
• The Civil War had left the South in ruins:
-Major cities and farms had been destroyed.
-The South’s labor force was destroyed (slaves were freed & ¼th of the white male population had been killed).
- The South’s transportation
system, based on railroads,
had been destroyed.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

3. Reconstruction ( ):
• Now that the Civil War was over, it was time to rebuild the South.
• The time period immediately following the Civil War is called Reconstruction:
- The South was physically
reconstructed.
- The South was socially
- Southern states were
reintegrated in the United States.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

4. Reconstruction ( ):
The U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, popularly known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in 1865 by Congress to help former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War ( )
Sharecropping emerged from the conflicting interests of former slaves and former slave plantation owners. For planters, it was a way to resume agricultural production. For former slaves, it moved away from the gang labor system and freed them from the constant supervision of white overseers.
Tenant farmers, who were mostly white, were barely better off than were sharecroppers in the postwar South. However, they usually had their own animals, some farm tools, and the seeds and fertilizer they needed. Some tenant farmers also owned their own houses. Thus they also owned the crop once it was grown, and could sell it and keep some of the profit. However, like sharecroppers, the tenant farmer had to pay the landlord a large share of his profit for the privilege of using the land.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

5. Reconstruction ( ):
• Northern leaders disagreed on how to treat
the South, and there were two major plans for reconstruction:
Presidential Reconstruction: President
Lincoln wanted to restore the South on friendly terms. He only had three requirements for
states to be readmitted to the Union:
One tenth of the state’s voters had to take an
oath to obey the U.S. Constitution.
- Each southern state had to create a new state government.
- Each southern state had to agree to abolish slavery.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

6. Reconstruction ( ):
• Northern leaders disagreed on how to treat the South, and there were two major plans for reconstruction:
2. Congressional Reconstruction:
Republicans in Congress disagreed with
Lincoln and wanted to punish the South.
-Congress passed the harsh Wade-Davis
Bill in 1864, requiring that Southerners
denounce the Confederacy and pledge
that they had never supported it.
-President Lincoln vetoed the
Congressional Plan.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

7. • The new President, Andrew Johnson, a Southerner, was
Reconstruction ( ):
• On April 14, 1865, just days after the Civil War ended, President Lincoln was assassinated.
• The new President, Andrew Johnson, a Southerner, was
committed to Lincoln’s plan of treating the South with friendship.
* With Lincoln dead, President Johnson was too weak and unpopular to prevent Congress from gaining “revenge” on the South.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

8. Reconstruction ( ):
• Northern Republicans used Lincoln’s assassination as proof that the South needed to be punished .
• In 1866, Radical Republicans
won enough seats in Congress
to override any of President Johnson’s vetoes.
• In 1868, Congress impeached President Johnson.
* NOTHING COULD NOW PROTECT THE SOUTH FROM THE RADICAL REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS!
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

9. Radical Reconstruction:
• Congress passed three amendments to the U.S. Constitution from :
-13th Amendment (1865):
Abolished slavery in the U. S.
-14th Amendment (1866):
Gave citizenship to freed slaves
-15th Amendment (1870):
Guaranteed all male citizens the right to vote, regardless of race or
“previous condition of servitude”
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

10. Radical Reconstruction:
• In 1866, all of the Southern states, except Tennessee, refused to ratify the 14th Amendment. In response, Congress placed the South (except Tennessee) under martial law.
• Congress stated that no southern state would be readmitted to the United States until they approved the 14th Amendment.
• Georgia was placed in the 3rd Military District under the command of the much hated General John Pope.
* Gen. Pope is the only man that Robert E. Lee expressed dislike for.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

11. Reconstruction in Georgia:
The Ku Klux Klan
-Founded in 1865 by former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
- The KKK became a means for
Southerners to resist the North’s
reconstruction efforts.
- Used scare tactics, terror methods,
violence, and murder to intimidate
blacks, Republicans, members of
the Freedmen’s Bureau, etc.
- Helped white Democrats regain
control of the South during and after
Reconstruction
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.

12. The End of Reconstruction
- In 1870, Georgia became the last
Southern state to be readmitted to the United States.
-In 1872, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant pardoned and restored the citizenship of all but 500 of the top Confederate leaders (Amnesty Act of 1872).
- With Reconstruction over in Georgia, the state could now focus on regaining its prosperity.
SS8H6 – The student will analyze the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.